The world’s highest peaks are at risk of losing up to 80% of their volume by the end of the century with profound consequences for millions of people under worst case climate scenarios, international scientists in Nepal warned in a new report.
The report, published Tuesday by the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development , examined the impact of climate change on an area stretching 1.6 million square miles from Afghanistan in the west to Myanmar in the east.
The same group published a report in 2019, which found that even in the most optimistic case, where average global warming was limited to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial temperatures, the region would lose at least one third of its glaciers.With between 1.5 to 2 degrees Celsius of warming, the world’s highest mountain region stands to lose 30% to 50% of its volume by 2100, the latest report said.
Scientists consider 1.5 degrees of warming as a key tipping point, beyond which the chances of extreme flooding, drought, wildfires and food shortages could increase dramatically. The erosion of glacial slopes also heightens the likelihood of floods, landslides and avalanches, increasing the risk to millions living in mountain communities.
For example, snowfall patterns are increasingly out of sync with seasonality, blanketing pastures and shrinking the grazing land for livestock, Maharjan explained. Over the past half decade, yaks have died due to a lack of food in India, Nepal and Bhutan, leaving farmers with huge income loses, she added.
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